“For The King of The North [Antiochus III (223 -187 B.C,E.) shall return:

And shall set forth A Multitude Greater Than The Former:

And shall certainly come after certain years (at The End of Some Years)

With A Great Army and With Much Riches (Equipment).”

(Daniel 11: 13b)

Co- Co, The Chimpanzee Schoolmaster, used to instil in us – we young chimpanzees – the necessity of asking questions as we read or listened to information. (If we did not, he threw a coconut like a fast bowler.)

(And we were expected to hit the one-hundred- m.p.h. coconut with an intelligent question.)

The question is, of course, how did Antiochus III, defeated by the indolent Ptolemy IV [221 – 204 B.C.E.] at The Battle of Raphia in 217 B.C.E., accumulate such a multitudinous array of military forces and wealth that he was able to conquer Coele-Syria, almost take Egypt, and rule Daniel’s people, The Jews, for the first time since the defeat of The Persians by Alexander The Great [336 -323 B.C.E.]. This conquest by Antiochus III, the greatest of Seleucid kings after Seleucus I took place in The Fifth Syrian War [202 – 195 B.C.E.B]. The principal battle in this war was The Battle of Panium in 198 B.C.E. (Panium is located near the sources of The Jordan River.)

While the victor of The Battle of Raphia, Ptolemy IV, was enjoying the pleasures of the Ptolemaic Court, until his mysterious death in 204 B.C.E., Antiochus III in:

• 216 – 213 B.C.E. defeated and executed his treacherous cousin, Achaeus, in Western Antolia and finally took the citadel of Sardis thereby recovering the central part of Asia Minor for his empire;
• 212 B.C.E. besieged Xerxes of Armenia who had refused to pay tribute and forced his capitultion;
• 209 B.C.E. invaded Parthia, occupied the capital Hecatompylos, pushed forward into Hyrcania, won The Battle of Mount Labus and forced the Parthian king Arsaces II to sue for peace;
• 209 B.C.E. also defeated Euthydemus at The Battle of the Arius but after sustaining a famous siege in his capital Bactria, promising the hand of Laodice, Antiochus III’s daughter, to Euthydemus’s son, Demetrius;
• 206/205 B.C.E. – following in the footsteps of Alexander The Great – crossed into The Kabul Valley, reaching the realm of King Sophagasenus and returned west by way of Seistan and Kerman, having renewed his friendship with Sophagasenus, king of the Indians and received more elephants, raising their number to a total of one hundred and fifty, and treasure from the king.
  

Successful kings in the ancient world spent their time on horseback expanding their kingdoms and controlling their empires. Antiochus was a mighty example of such a commander and general. Is it no wonder that when Ptolemy IV died and his kingdom was left to his young son Ptolemy V [204 -180 B.C.E.], Antiochus III came with a great army and conquered Coele-Syria and Egypt’s commander, Scopas, at The Battle of Panium?

There is another mighty warrior coming on horseback as well. In comparison with HIM, Antiochus III is as ‘chaff before the wind’ (Psalm 1:4).

Next Week: Daniel 11:14